Understanding the durability, quality and carbon impact of traditional and modern materials

Tender description

Historic England wishes to commission a piece of work that collates and reviews the existing evidence regarding the sustainability and durability of traditional building materials, particularly the materials that are found in traditional homes. This should be set against the performance of existing construction materials, such as those used in retrofit. In terms of sustainability, the research should consider evidence regarding the environmental impact of traditional and modern materials across their entire life, factoring their embodied, direct and indirect carbon emissions. The successful tenderer will produce a review of the literature with accompanying collated data that can be used as evidence when establishing the potential emission reductions that can be achieved through retrofitting traditional buildings when properly considering the whole life of materials. This will also help inform and encourage the development of sustainable refurbishment strategies that could help counter those that rely on fossil fuel generated materials.